The Island
by SWSWWAD
Summary: Ryza and Klaudia are stranded on an island and must work togther to stay alive.


**_"Why now?"_** The question echoes through both Ryza's and Klaudia's mind as they stare at the empty sand where their boat once laid. "**_Why today of all days does this have to happen?"_**

Meanwhile on the home island of Reisalin Stout Ryza can see the preparations for tonight's festival is well underway, and the thought of missing out on the fun causes her stomach to drop. Ryza usually doesn't like these kinds of celebrations where the villages had to show how grateful they are to Mr Brunnen for his gift of water, but tonight she was looking forward to the party.

She had everything planned out for tonight. Ryza called in favours did odd jobs on the side of her alchemy to get everything ready, and she ruined everything by forgetting to tie her boat to the small rundown pier of this deserted island. Ryza was so happy and so looking forward to this evening, and now she sees all of her plans fall to pieces.

Klaudia meanwhile smiles and watches Ryza as she starts to pace back and forths across the sand in frustration but deep down she is feeling the same disappointment as her dear friend is about missing out on tonight's festivities but for different reasons. Klaudia was looking forward to the party but most of all, to spending time with Ryza and seeing her friend wearing a kimono Klaudia hears is common for women here to wear while attending parties. Then when the time was right, she would…

"I'm sorry," Ryza sighs finally stopping her pacing and turning to face her friend. "This is all my fault."

"It's not your fault Ryza," Klaudia tells her stepping forward and putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. **_"Even after working all day in the heat, she still smells nice."_** Klaudia thinks for a moment before continuing. "I could have also checked on the boat but didn't. it's just as much my fault as it is yours."

"But I was the one who dragged you out here," Ryza responds looking down.

"Ryza look at me," Slowly she raises her head. "Ryza you didn't force me to go anywhere I choose to come here with you because I… because I am your friend."

**_"It's not fair,"_** Klaudia thinks. **_"Even worried and on the verge of tears, she still looks cute."_**

"I'm still sorry," Ryza apologises again. "I doubt anyone would notice we are missing until tomorrow morning and even then I could take another two to three days for them to find us. I wasn't clear in our destination when I told Lent and Tao where we were going today."

"And I didn't tell my dad I was leaving the island," Klaudia admits. "We are just as bad as each other, don't you think."

"Yeah," Ryza replies and both girls giggle. "We are terrible."

"So what now?" Klaudia asks quickly taking her hand off of her friend's shoulder only just realising how long it been there. **_"I can still feel her warmth and the softness of her shoulder."_** Klaudia thinks regretting the decision to remove her hand but also feeling grateful that her friend didn't seem upset about the extended contact. "Has this ever happened to you before?"

"I'm not that bad," Ryza pouts before letting out a sigh. "Well maybe I am but something like this never happened to me before." After a minute of thinking, Ryza does come up with a plan of action. "But we should find a place to stay for a while, that cabin we found earlier should work."

* * *

The Cabin Ryza mentioned is nothing much and her atelier was in better shape than this place when she first found it. The glass that once formed the windows is long gone and the door as fallen over but the walls and roof looks to be intact. Inside the cabin is better but not great with only a fireplace decorating the room and a layer of dust coating the floor. Klaudia is glad to see there is a broom at least tucked away in the corner of the room and makes her way towards it.

"I'll clean up here," Klaudia says picking up the broom. "Why don't you trie to catch us some fish for dinner."

**_"I sound like my mum when she talks to my father,"_** Klaudia thinks to herself. **_"It's like we are ma… no, it's not like that."_**

"Ok," Ryza nods. "This place isn't protected so call out is any monsters appear."

"You too," Klaudia tells her with a smile.

**_"But it would be good if we were like that,"_** Klaudia thinks as she watches her friend leave. **_"If we were like mother and father."_**

* * *

"Empel," The wandering alchemist turns at the sound of the voice from where he was staring out at a small island in the distance. "Are you sure about this? It didn't seem nice to tamper with the rope on their boat so it would untangle itself."

"Those two deserve to work things out between them," Empel says facing his trusted companion Lila. "They have done so much for us; it is only right we help them out just a little."

"If you say so," Lila replies with a blank expression that even Empel struggles to read. "Just make sure they return safely."

"Of course," Empel responds taking a small jewel from his pocket. "I have already set up a teleportation crystal that will take us to them at the slightest hint of trouble."

* * *

Ryza yawns as she throws out her fishing line for the countless time. So far the young alchemist has done well catching a few small fish but she still feels like she needs to do more or risk disappointing Klaudia by coming back without the specific fish Ryza knows her friend loves to eat. **_"Why am I so worried about catching the right fish?" _**Ryza wonders as she feels a tug on her line and she reels the fish in. **_"Not the right one." _**She sighs, dropping the fish in a bucked and recasting her line. **_"Why can't I do anything right today?" _**Ryza asks herself. "**_First, I fail to find a potent alchemy ore that Empel said was plentiful on this island, and then I lose our boat."_** Ryza feels another tug and catches two fishes on her line this time, but both are the wrong kind. **_"Now I can't even catch a stupid fish and won't get to see Klaudia wearing the kimono I work so hard to make her."_**

Ryza grunts but feels like screaming as she harshly throws her line out, creating a big splash that most likely scared more fish away then her bait would attract. Ryza can't help but feel disappointed in that fact that her hard work would go to waste. She spent hours gathering the right materials, days learning how to sow from the merchants in town and even longer trying to pick the design and colours that would suit Klaudia. It wasn't that hard for Ryza to find the right designs and colours, the hard part was finding the one that Klaudia would like. **_"Klaudia's so lucky to be able to look beautiful in anything she wears. Even that time I showed up early at her home, she still looked cute with her bed hair and wearing only a nightgown." _**Ryza blushes at that last thought as much as Klaudia did that morning when Ryza saw her.

Feeling another tug on her line, Ryza is snapped out of her thoughts and brought back to reality. Moving quickly Ryza reals in her latest catch and smiles when she sees it's the fish she's been looking for all along. The young alchemist holds up the fat fish with light brown scales in her hands and fall the first time she feels happy to see something going her way again. With this one fish in her hands, Ryza can start to feel like maybe today won't be going to end as badly as it started. **_"I'm sure Klaudia is going to be happy with this."_** Ryza hopes as she begins to happily skip towards the cabin.**_ "I'll be sure to cook it just the way she likes it." _**Ryza reaches the door feeling over the moon with her latest catch.

"Hey! Klaudia! I'm ba…" Just as Ryza steps into the door, she hears a sound that chills her to the bone.

"Ahhhh!" Klaudia's screams echo across the island.

* * *

The sound of wood snapping echos across the small clearing as a giant blade cleanly cuts a log into two pieces. Sweat coats the large muscular teen as she sets up another log to be cut when a snapping tree branch grabs his attention. Despite all that's changed over the recent months he still can't get used to seeing those two together.

"Need a hand?" Bos offers stopping just short of the powerful teen with Tao at his side.

"Yeah," Lent nods his head. "I was beginning to wonder if I would ever be able to finish in time."

"I don't know why my father didn't assign more people to this task," Bos says as he collects his own log while Tao starts to gather up the already chopped pieces. "He should have given three or four people this job and not just you."

"I can handle it," Lent tells him. "It's not like I'm not used to dealing with your father."

"…" Lent knows he made a mistake saying that when he hears a hiss leave Bos's lips. Even after making up and bounding, there are some rough patches in their friendship.

"I'm going to take these back," Tao says walking off with a stack of logs in his arms he is struggling to look over. "I'll come back for more later."

"…"

Silence fills the air as neither Bos or Lent say a word or move an inch. All they can hear is Tao's footsteps as he walks away quickly getting quieter and quieter with each step until those too are gone leaving the pair in complete and utter silence.

"I am not my father," Bos says slicing his log but hitting it harder than he should have down causing several splinters to scatter across the clearing.

"I know," Lent tells him. "You are already a better person, then he could ever hope to be."

"…" Silence comes again but it isn't as lingering as before. "Thank you." Both boys start slicing logs again. "By the why. When's Ryza getting back?"

"Going to ask her to dance?" Lent asks making Bos blush causing him to laugh. "Relax I'm not going to tell anyone and to answer your question I can't say. All I know is that she went to gather resources with Klaudia today."

* * *

"Ahhhh!" Ryza runs into the cabin, hearing her friend scream and sees Klaudia on the floor staring at the open cupboard while her body shakes.

"Klaudia!" Ryze yells rushing to her friend's air. "Klaudia, are you ok? What happened?"

All Klaudia can do is shakily point towards the open cupboard where Ryza sees the problem. She feels like laughing by how trivial the matter is. Out of the closet comes crawling a rather large but ordinary island spider. As it moves closer to the girls, Klaudia lets out cries of fear and desperately crawls backwards. **_"Even scare she's cute."_** Ryza thinks before she moves forward and catches the spider in her hands before quickly removing it from the building.

"Thank you," Klaudia says as she continues to shake and hugs her body. "I hate spiders. They keep getting in my hair and crawling in my sleeping bag when I would travel with my father. I was bitten by a poisonous one once and it made me sick for days."

"It's okay," Ryza assures her friend as she walks towards her, kneels down and hugs Klaudia. **_"She smells like a bed of flowers_**," Ryza notes, and she feels Klaudia start to relax. "I can handle the spiders so your safe with me. When we get back, I can even make you something that repels spiders."

"Thank you," Klaudia replies as she spins around hugs her friend back.

**_"How can someone be so brave, so strong, so pretty and give me such a feeling of safety that I can even fight a dragon without worrying about myself?"_** Klaudia wonders as she hugs Ryza tighter. **_"Why do I have to leave her too soon?"_**

* * *

Night falls and with it comes a chill that cuts right through to the bones of both Ryza and Klaudia causing both girls to shiver. **_"Why is it so cold? It was never this cold back on Kurken Island. Maybe it has something to do with the fact our island is manmade. I'll have to ask Empel about it when we get off of this island."_** Ryza tries to think about anything other than the cold but with every gust of wind reminds her of the plummeting temperature.

"I have a sleeping bag we could share," Ryza finally says unable to bear the cold any longer.

"A sleeping bag?" Klaudia asks, looking at her friend.

"It will be cramped but warm," Ryza tells her blushing at the thought of being so close to her friend.

"…" Klaudia thinks for a moment before nodding her head as a cold breeze makes her decision for her. "Okay."

"It's been in my bag for a while so it may not be the best but…" Ryza starts but Klaudia stops her.

"It's fine Ryza," Klaudia assures her. "I'm okay with it."

* * *

"Where is she?!" Everyone is surprised by how loud and well Lubart Valentz the recently arrived merchant's voice carries across the island. From all corners of Kurken Island, people heard his cry shocking many as they hear the anger in the ordinarily calm man's voice. "I know you sent Klaudia and her friend off this morning on an earned so tell me where my daughter is!"

Meanwhile, Agatha Harmon the villages guardian steps close, she doesn't think things will turn violent but she can't be sure seeing how much Mr Valentz has changed now that his daughter is in protentional danger. Everyone else just stares at the unfolding scene holding their breaths with most hoping they don't fight but a select few hopping they do as they quietly slip each other coins and make their bets on who will win.

"Just tell me already!" Mr Valentz yells.

"I assure you she is not in any danger sir," Empel tries to assure him but to no avail. "Your daughter is perfectly safe."

"Then tell me where she is!" Mr Valentz demands taking a step close and Empel has to give a subtle signal to Lila to stop her from interfering.

"Well…" Empel feels thankful as he notices something else catch Mr Valentz's eye and lets out a breath as he watches the merchant step past him and Lila. "I didn't expect things to go this wrong." Empel quietly tells Lila. "Let's step out of the crowd for now and try not to draw any further attention."

"…" Lila nods her head, and together they manage to slip away will everyone's attention is still on Mr Valentz.

"This is your daughter's fault!" They hear the merchant yell. "I shouldn't have let my daughter hang out with her!"

"My daughter may be a trouble maker but she won't disappear like this!" Empel stops as he is surprised to hear that it's Ryza's mother that's come to her defence and not her father. From what Ryza has told him the alchemist he was expecting her father would be the first to go to their daughter's aid. "I doubt she is capable of causing trouble like this!"

* * *

Meanwhile at the edge of the crowd both Lent and Tao chuckle at the fallout of Ryza's latest trouble making although they doubt she meant to cause this problem. It was probably like the time she made a small dam to study an object at the bottom of the river and caused several villagers to panic at the sudden loss of water to the village. But Bos doesn't find the current situation amusing and stares daggers at his two friends. **_"How can they find it funny that one of their friends is in danger?"_** He asks himself as he watches his both Lent and Tao laugh.

"Even when she's not here Ryza still manages to cause trouble," Lent finally says as he calms down.

"How can you laugh when Ryza might be in trouble?" Bos asks feeling just as angry as Mr Valentz but he does a better job at hiding how he feels. "She could be hurt or worse and you find it funny."

"Relax Bos, Ryza will be fine she can handle herself," Lent assures him. "She has Klaudia with her and I don't think after all we went through in stopping the invasion there is a monster that can take the two of them down."

"Lent is right," Tao agrees. "Both Ryza and Klaudia have become so much stronger, we all have that we can deal with monsters with ease."

"They may be strong but…" Bos stops trying to calm his worries for a moment but fails. "They still should have been back by now."

"I'm sure they are fine," Lent tells him. "Ryza and Klaudia will come back acting like nothing happened, get yelled at by their parents and then things will go back to normal."

"How can you be so sure?" Bos asks.

"Because it's Ryza we are talking about here," Lent answers as both him and Tao lightly laugh again.

* * *

Both girls can feel their own bodies shivering as well as each other as the temperature drops and the night sets in. All around the girls, the world goes dark and quiet with the glow and crackle of a small fire in the fireplace, giving them any warmth, light and sound as the fire crackles and burns. Both girls feel both cold and hot at the same time as they are laying face to face with their bodies pressed together in the tight confines of Ryza's old sleeping bag.

"Ha… have you ever… done this before?" Klaudia nervously asks.

"Once or twice… but I was also on the island," Ryza answers after thinking about it for a second. "But I was with Tao and Lent, and we all had our own sleeping bags and slept in Lent's tent. But there weren't many places we could camp on the island so it got boring fast and when we got older well… it just got awkward to share a tent with boys."

"I see," Klaudia replies before shyly asking. "Is it because you… liked one of them?"

"No, no, it wasn't like that!" Ryza tells her going red in the face and jumping at the question. "We are just friends… it was just… you know being close to two boys was awkward."

"But not with me?" Ryza can't tell if Klaudia is teasing her or being serious but either way, she feels her face burn hotter.

"Well, you're…" Ryza isn't sure how to answer that question as she struggles to come up with an answer. She could say it was because Klaudia was a girl but she knows that would be a lie as Ryza knows the answers is because of how close and safe she feels around her friend, but Ryza can't bring herself to tell Klaudia that so she settles with a lie. "A girl like me…"

"So you don't have anyone you like right now?" Klaudia doesn't know where this confidence to ask these questions is coming from, but she isn't going to question it as she watches and enjoys her friend squirming.

"No I… well…" Ryza struggles to answer that one. "I… it's a secret… why are you asking me this anyway?"

"Isn't that what girls do when they are alone?" Klaudia says.

"I guess but I'm not sure," Ryza replies, feeling her heart thumping in her chest so hard she is sure Klaudia can feel it too. "The closest thing I had to a girlfriend is Agatha, but I can't talk to her like this." Ryza was about to go quiet when she suddenly realises what she just said and quickly moves to correct herself. "No, I don't mean girlfriend I meant a girl as a friend… not like I have anything against girls like that but Agatha is more like a big sister to me than a lover."

"It's ok I know what you meant," Klaudia assures her with a small giggle. "So you're ok with two girls being together?"

"I guess…" Ryza answers. "What about you?"

"I'm fine with it," Klaudia tells her and Ryza isn't sure why but she is relieved to hear that. **_"Because you like her,"_** Her mind tells her, but Ryza quickly dismisses those thoughts. "Most places are no, but you can still find some places that will condemn it."

"I see," Ryza nods her head before asking. "So do you have someone… you like?"

"Me!" Klaudia feels her confidence leave her by that one question and seeing Ryza's eyes staring at her makes it all the more harder to think about that question. "Well, I…" Klaudia can't answer. She feels her heartbeat increase and a blush grow on her face as her throat locks up, making any sort of response impossible. Taking a deep breath in and out… in and out Kauldia can finally find an answer she has known for a while now. "Yes…" **You.** "But it's a secret too."

Silence once again fills the cabin and the crackling of the fire is the only thing to break the quietness of the night. There is no insects, no bird and not even monsters out their tonight by the sound of things and while most people would be happy with the quiet Ryza wishes to hear something to distract herself from the awkwardness that has settled over herself and her friend. For the first time in her life, Ryza wanted a monster would appear so she could fight it and forget about the convention so she could go back to how things were this morning between herself and Klaudia. **_"And so I can impress Klaudia as well,"_** Ryza thinks only to once again quickly dismiss her thoughts.

Klaudia meanwhile is regretting her questions as she sees the results of having them answered, but part of her is glad that she asked what she did finally satisfying the curiosities some parts of her body had. Looking to her friend Klaudia can see Ryza is blushing and seems to be just as nervous as she is by this sudden turn of events.

"So um… what's this festival like?" Klaudia is once again the first to speak this time hoping a change of subject would erase the awkwardness that has come over the pair. "I've been to a few festivals before, and they are all different in some way."

"Well, it's mostly about sucking up to Mr Brunnen and saying how grateful we are about the water he gives us but I guess that will have to change now because of us," Ryza giggles a little at the thought of Mr Brunnen actually having to do something other than look down on people. "We dance, eat food and the night ends with a firework display that Mr Brunnen spares no expense on. We could probably still see the fireworks from here."

"It sounds like fun," Klaudia smiles. "I'm sure you would look cute in your kimono."

"I'm sure you would have too," Ryza tells her. "I worked so hard to make it for you, and now it's going to waste."

"You made one for me…" Klaudia feels like crying hearing that. Klaudia has never had anyone make her a handmade gift before.

"Yeah… I did…" Ryza replies, realising she had let that slip.

"You must have worked hard on it," Klaudia tells her with a smile as she wipes away a tear that's rolling down her cheek. "I don't think anyone has made me something since my mother fell ill."

* * *

Back on the island, things have calmed down mainly due to the actions of Agatha in keeping the peace between the two warring parties. By the time Mr Valentz and Ms Stout parted ways Agatha was feeling exhausted and surprised that Ms Stout was more like her daughter then the women would ever admit to being. Both Ryza and Ms Stout can cause just as much trouble as the other when they want to. Agatha watches as Mr Valentz walks back to Mr Brunnen and Ms Stout goes back to her husband and thankfully both parties are now on other sides of the fountain.

Even though the situation seems resolved, Agatha remains where she is for a few more minutes until she is sure everything has been settled. Once she is confident, no one will start another fight, the village guardian leaves the area in search of the person she knows has the answer to the question of where the two missing girls are.

Agatha finally spots the pair she was looking for and quickly approaches. Despite how quickly she moved and her years of practice on sneaking up in monsters, the villages guardian is surprised when the mysterious female warrior swiftly turns to her looking like she's expecting a fight. Instincts take over her and Agatha goes to draw her sword only to stop herself at the last second remind herself that she wants to talk to them and not cut off their limbs.

"I know when someone's lying," Agatha tells them as she regains her composure. She doesn't understand what happened then, but when that woman looked at her Agatha could feel the sense of danger overwhelmed her. "I know that you are lying about not knowing where Ryza and Klaudia but I won't make you tell me where they are I just want to know if they are safe."

"Well, I expected you to yell at me over this and arranging a search team to go look for those two girls," Empel says as he turns to face her. "I'm surprised that you don't seem worried about those two."

"Trust me I am," Agatha replies, shaking her head. "Ryza can be a handful most of the time, but she has grown so much stronger recently that I have to recognise her strength. The same goes for Klaudia as well, I may not know her well, but I can see how much she has grown since coming to this island."

"I know, those two sure have brought a lot out of each other," Empel agrees nodding his head. "Klaudia has gained so much confidence from being around Ryza and courage to while Ryza seems to be more focused now and helpful taking odd jobs and helping out her friends. It's a shame her hard work was for nothing."

"What do you mean by that?" Agatha raises an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I'm sworn to secrecy over that," Empel replies, shaking his head. "But it's nothing important."

"If you say so but," Agatha says. "You didn't answer my question. Are Ryza and Klaudia safe wherever they are?"

"Yes," Empel answers. "I give you my word that they are perfectly safe."

* * *

Ryza opens her eyes as she hears a loud bang and sees a flash of light waking Klaudia as she jumps at the sound. More flashes and bangs follow as Ryza realises it is just the fireworks, Mr Brunnen is setting off back on the island.

"Sorry," Ryza says as she calms down. "The fireworks spoked me."

"They are loud aren't they," Klaudia smiles and Ryza feels her heart skip a bit when she sees her friends face lit up by the flashes. "Do you think we can see them from the beach?"

The beach is probably filled with monsters and Ryza knows she should say no but when she looks at Klaudia's face, all Ryza can do is ask herself. **_"How can I say no to that face?"_**

"We probably could," Ryza nods. "Just be sure to bring your flute just in case."

The beach is surprisingly empty as Ryza and Klaudia step onto the sand. It's also quite remarkably quiet as all the duo can hear are the booms of fireworks. **_"Are monsters afraid of fireworks?"_** Ryza makes a mental note of another question to ask Empel when they return to the island. Klaudia sits down on the sand and pulls Ryza down to sit down beside her.

"They're beautiful," Klaudia comments as they watch the colourful light show unfold.

"I wish I could have shown you the rest of the festival as well," Ryza sighs. "But this is nice. It's like we have our own private show."

"Yeah, it is," Klaudia says with a smile. "We get to enjoy the show together with no one else around to inter..."

"Rooooooaarr!"

Both Ryza and Klaudia jump at the sound as a beast soars overhead before diving down towards them. The pair only have seconds to act and just barely dodge the attack. The creature lets out an angry cry before it shoots into the sky and starts to circle the girls.

"We need to go back to the cabin!" Ryza says as she watches the monster prepare to attack them again. "Run! I'll be right behind you!"

Ryza raises her staff and points it towards the monster. The flying beast hovers in mid-air watch her move, but soon several flying magical javelins shoot towards it. The flying monster is forced to move to avoid the attack buying both Ryza and Klaudia the time they need to get back into the cabin and lock the door.


End file.
